The Guardian of Knowledge
by SquamousEpithelium
Summary: The Frizz joins the Guardians... and Jack has the first lessons he's had for over three hundred years. From a trip across the solar system to entering the body of the Bunny, Jack is having the time of his life. But Pitch has a new trick up his sleeve.
1. Chapter 1

The Guardian of Knowledge.

Chapter 1: Prolog.

**North Pole**

North sat in his workshop working on a new toy. He gently carved a miniature school bus toy from an ice-block. He placed it on a ramp and it ran down fast. It flew off the ramp end and transformed into a rocket and flew around the room. Unfortunately the door was flung open and the bus-rocket was smashed into ice-cubes. "I told you to KNOCK!" North bellowed at the yeti that had rushed across the thresh-hold. "**WWOORRBBLLWWOORRLLRRBBLL!" **"What about the globe?"

North rushed into the Globe room. The globe was shaking. Miniscule cracks were running across it's surface. All of a sudden, a black shape appeared from beneath the globe. It shot around the room. North could've sworn he'd heard an engine revving. A cackle of laughter echoed around the hall. The shape shot out of the hole in the roof and away into the sky. "Pitch," North whispered. "How can he be back? This must be big deal." "I'll need to call the others," He said louder. He twisted a lever and pressed it down. The Guardian lights leapt from the globe and into the sky.

* * *

**Tooth Palace**

"San Diego, sector two, four incisors, eighteen molars, two canines. Hong Kong, sector five, fourteen bicuspids, three lateral incisors. London, sector three, we've got a left central incisor on stand-by in Ealing." Tooth was giving orders at the speed of light. The mini-fairies were shooting back and forth between her and the outside world. Some were returning carrying teeth and depositing them in the puzzle-boxes. Some were pressing buttons on the coin dispensers and collecting coins of differing currencies. One of the mini-fairies flew up to her holding an incisor. "Aww, her first fallen milk tooth. Isn't it adorable with all the blood and gum on the bottom?" She looked up at this point and saw the Guardian lights twisting across the sky. She quickly put the tooth down and flew off into the sky. "Wings up ladies and take no prisoners!"

* * *

**Buenos Aires**

Sandy floated high above the ground on his golden cloud of dream sand. Streams of the golden stuff flowed from his hands across the surface of the globe. Where they met the eyes of sleeping children, sweet dreams were spawned. Sandy suddenly opened his eyes. The Guardian lights were shining high above him. He suddenly stopped producing dream sand and moved his hands in complicated movements. The dream sand cloud suddenly transformed into an aeroplane. Sandy reached down below the dashboard, took out a pair of goggles, put them on and set off for the North Pole.

* * *

**The Warren**

Bunnymund sat in his warren, trying out a few new egg colour designs. There was barely a week left to go before easter, but he'd never been late for one yet because, after all, his first and second names made E. Aster. He still had five hundred thousand eggs left to go. He stuck the paintbrush behind his ear and blew on the egg. Something glimmering was reflected off of the surface. He looked up. High through the hole in the roof of the warren the Guardian lights flickering across the sky. "This had better not be about your belly North," Bunny thought bitterly. He got to his feet, tapped the ground with his foot, opened a tunnel and disappeared down it.

* * *

**Burgess**

"GOTCHA!" Jack Frost fell backwards from being hit by a snowball. Jamie raised his arms in triumph. Jack laughed. "Ha. You've learned well Jamie," Jack said pulling himself to his feet. "But there is one thing you've still got to master." "What's that?" Jamie asked, taking a step towards him. Jack waited for a moment for dramatic effect... and hit Jamie with another snowball. "Never let your guard down!" Jamie laughed and picked up another snowball. Jack snatched up another... and stopped dead. Flying across the skies were the Guardian Lights. Jamie, noticing his gaze, looked up and saw the Guardian lights himself. "What are they?" he asked. "They're the Guardian Lights. I'm needed at the North Pole." He looked down at Jamie. "Sorry, but we'll have to finish this game later." Jamie nodded disappointed. Jack picked up his staff and shot into the sky, waving to Jamie as he went.

* * *

**North Pole**

"Cookies? Eggnog? Fruit cake? Hot chocolate?" North offered, holding out a tray of each as he spoke it's name. Bunny pushed the platters aside. "This explanation had better be good North," Bunny said, strolling up to the fireplace and warming his cold feet.

Tooth was hovering in mid-air, still issuing orders to her mini-fairies. Sandy's aeroplane flew into the globe room and promptly dissolved. From the sand cloud emerged the golden figure of Sandy. He looked very irritated. "Yes... I'm sorry Sandy, but I wouldn't have called all of you here unless it was serious." Sandy frowned and rolled his eyes.

There was a bang as the window blew open and Jack flew in. "Don't you ever use the door?" North asked. "Get to the point North, I had to leave a snowball fight," Jack said.

North took a deep breath and said, "Pitch had returned once again!" Bunny, who'd just taken a gulp of hot chocolate to warm up, choked and turned blue. Sandy thumped him on the back. "How can Pitch be back?" Jack asked. He was terrified. He had been responsible for Pitch's downfall. What would happen when Pitch found him? "How do you know it was Pitch?" Tooth asked. "I saw his shadow," North said.

The expressions of the Guardians turned from worried to exasperated. "Don't you have anything a bit more substantial than that?" Bunny asked. "Well, no but I know it was him. I feel it... in my belly." The Guardians immediately broke into arguments and protests. "I've got over ten thousand eggs to finish!" "There are four hundred teeth out tonight!" "I was in the middle of a snowball fight!" "Pitch is up to something!" "I've got to be up to finishing eggs!"

RING-A-LING-A-RING-A-LING! They all turned to see Sandy shaking an elf by the bell. He dropped the elf, conjured an image of the moon, pointed to it and then to the ceiling.

They all looked up. Visible through the hole in the ceiling was the moon. They all stared up at it. A shaft of pale blue light fell upon the ground. A shadow appeared in the middle. It was the outline of Pitch. "Oh god!" Tooth whispered. North patted his stomach, smiling. "What do we do?" Jack asked.

The light fell upon the golden G in the centre of the floor. Out of it rose a crystal. Light reflected off it, bouncing across the room. "Another new Guardian," North gasped. "definitely the leprechaun this time," Tooth said. "Please not the grand elk, please not the grand elk," Bunnymund prayed.

An image formed over the crystal. It was a woman, with frizzy red hair tied in a bun. She was wearing a very strange dress. It was emblazoned with planets and stars. Sitting on her shoulder was a lizard and behind her was a school bus.

"Who's that?" Bunny asked, confused. Jack and Sandy shrugged and Tooth looked lost. "North what do you think? North?" They all stared at the Guardian of Wonder. He looked stunned, an expression of utter incredulity on his face. "North who is that?" Jack asked.

"My great-granddaughter."

* * *

**I'm not entirely sure to continue or not so I'll wait for at least five reviews.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jack soared through the sky. North had instructed him to go to the town of Walkerville in the USA. There were several curiosities about this mission. For instance, when Jack had asked North where this woman lived in Walkerville, he'd just said 'You'll know it when you see it.' And that was another thing. North had seemed unconcerned that this woman wouldn't be able to see him.

He had finally arrived in the town and floated down into the street. He didn't have to wait long to find the house he was looking for. The first thing he noticed was a strangely built mail-box. It was shaped like a school bus. Jack looked at the house beyond... and his jaw dropped. The house beyond was like Sandy standing in a field of nightmares: it stood out immensely.

Starting at the basics, siting in the middle of the lawn was a fountain of a lizard. Next to it was a pond with a bridge over it. Next to the house was a giant beanstalk, stretching up as tall as the telescope on the roof of the house. The windows were in a staggering variety of shapes; from stars to portholes. Everything about the house was unique, even the doorbell, which worked by lifting up the lever to complete the circuit.

The door opened. The woman Jack had seen on the crystal stood there. Her frizzy red hair was tied up in a bun on the top of her head and out of it stuck a small, model christmas tree. Her earings were teeth and her golden, sandy dress was emblazoned with snowflakes. On her shoes were two large painted eggs.

She pulled the lever back down, turned to Jack and said 'Well hello, how can I help you?' At this Jack was even more stunned. 'You can see me?' He said amazed. The woman chuckled. 'I can see things that are really there.' She held out her hand and Jack shook it. 'Ms Frizzle at your service, Jack Frost.' 'Hang on, I don't think I told you my name.' Ms. Frizzle just smiled. 'What can I do for you?' she asked again. 'Well,' Jack began 'It's kinda complicated. You're needed at the North Pole.' Ms Frizzle smiled and her earings flashed. 'Very well then,' she said, clapping her hands together. 'TO THE BUS!' 'What?' Jack said, but Ms Frizzle was already marching towards the driveway.

This was the last issue. North hadn't given Jack a snow-globe, so how was he supposed to get himself and this woman back to the North Pole? 'Come on Liz,' he heard suddenly. He felt something scampering up his leg and onto his shoulder. Looking, he saw a small green lizard with two large horns on it's head. It smiled at him. Wait... smiled?

Jack suddenly heard a revving. Looking back up, he saw a bright yellow school bus rolling down the drive. The doors opened and Jack stepped onto the vehicle. It was a pretty ordinary bus, except for the dashboard. A staggering array of switches, dials and levers covered the thing. At the wheel sat Ms Frizzle. 'Seatbelt Jack,' she said, still smiling. Jack took a seat directly behind Ms Frizzle and Liz sat on his lap.

'Okay Bus, do your stuff,' Ms. Frizzle said and she pulled a large, red handled lever on the dashboard. What happened then can only be accurately described from the outside. The bus stretched, squashed and then span.

When Jack opened his eyes and looked out of the window, he saw that the bus had grown rockets. 'BLAST OFF!' Ms Frizzle yelled and the bus shot into the air so fast that Jack was pinned into his seat by the force of acceleration. 'WAHOO!' Ms Frizzle laughed. 'I hope you like the loop-the-loops!' Jack swallowed. 'I hope you like snow.'

Ms. Frizzle pressed another button on the dashboard. There was a flash and the Bus was suddenly flying across the arctic straight towards North's workshop.

Ms Frizzle then pulled a small lever below a pink device that looked a little like a sci-fi gun. The bus shrank and shot through the hole in the roof of the workshop, past the globe and landed in front of the mantlepiece. Ms Frizzle pulled the lever back up and the bus returned to it's normal size. When the doors opened, Jack stumbled out and collapsed into a chair.

Ms Frizzle stepped off the bus. 'Great-grandfather Nicholas!' she said delightedly. 'Valerie!' North said, stepping forward and embracing her. 'Hot cocoa,' he said offering a mug of the hot liquid. 'I remember, you always used to say "It can hurt a lot when the mug get's hot".' Ms Frizzle said beaming.

'AAHH! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS!' Bunny yelled. Jack turned. It seemed that Liz the lizard had climbed up Bunny's back when he wasn't looking. Bunny leapt and span in panic and Liz was flung off of his shoulders and onto a dreamsand cushion that Sandy had produced. Sandy picked up the lizard, placed her on the ground and glared disapprovingly at Bunny.

Liz jumped back into Ms Frizzle's arms. 'Still got de old boneshaker I see,' North said smiling at the bus. 'Yes,' said Ms. Frizzle 'And the bus is as bad as ever.' Both she and North burst out laughing. 'Such fun,' North said. Liz looked a little affronted.

'So, what can I do you for?' Ms Frizzle asked, placing Liz on the ground who immediately jumped onto Jack's lap. 'I have news... from Man In Moon.' Ms Frizzle looked to the moon, only looking mildly surprised. 'From eighth cousin, twenty-four times removed Manny? What did he say?' 'He says...' North paused for dramatic effect '... now YOU ARE GUARDIAN!' The yetis held up the torches and the elves began to play their fanfare.

Liz didn't seem to like the loud noise and scampered into Jack's pocket. A yeti gave North the "book" as Jack knew it and he opened it.

North flicked through a couple of pages and said 'Will you, Valerie Frizzle, vow to watch over the children of the world? To guard them with your life - their hopes, their wishes and their dreams? For they are all that we have, all that we are and all...'

At that moment an alarm rang. A bright red light began to flash on the globe, over the site of Sandy's sandship. Sandy looked panicked. 'Trouble at the Sandship,' Bunny muttered. North threw the book into a corner. 'Everyone to the sleigh!' he roared. 'No,' Bunny snapped, 'We'll take the tunnels.' 'TO THE BUS!' Ms Frizzle's voice reverberated around the globe room.

'Seatbelts everyone,' Ms Frizzle called backwards through the bus. 'You see North. Some people have seatbelts,' Bunny snickered. North glowered. 'T-minus 5 and counting,' Ms Frizzle said, pulling down the red double-handed lever.

The bus stretched, span and transformed into it's rocket form. '4... 3... 2... 1... BLAST OFF!' The bus shot into the air and smashed through the roof. 'My Roof,' North roared as fragments of the ceiling fell back to Earth.

The bus flew higher and higher and then... the sky turned black. Stars shone bright and cold through the windows. Jack stared out of the window. The entire Earth lay below, shimmering with Earth-shine. Behind it was the Moon.

Suddenly, the bus turned over and sped down through the atmosphere. The bus began to glow with the heat of re-entry. All of a sudden, the blue of the sky came back. As they broke through the cloud bank, the ocean was suddenly shooting towards them. 'WAHOO!' Ms Frizzle laughed and the bus turned up so it was now flying across the sea.

'I think I would have prefered the sleigh,' Bunny groaned. He looked very green even below all of his fur. 'THE SANDSHIP!' Tooth cried. Dead ahead, suspended in the sky against the rising moon was the mighty sandship. But something was wrong. Streams of black were flying around it. 'Nightmares' Jack whispered. Ms Frizzle slammed her foot down on the accelerator and the bus shot forwards. A nightmare horse shot past the window. It was chasing a small sand tornado; a sand-whirl. 'They're taking the sand-whirls,' Bunny yelled. Sandy looked terrified.

Ms Frizzle slammed her hand down on a button with a vacuum cleaner on it. A large spout shot out of the bus's exhaust pipe and sucked in the sand-whirl. In a second it was within the bus's cabin. The sand-whirl was shuddering. Sandy hovered over to it and patted it gently. The bus flew into the sandship. The were flying over the sand-dunes. They were empty. Not a speck of dreamsand was anywhere. The bus flew higher, onto the bridge. Everyone jumped out of the bus and sprinted over to the front window.

Nightmares were circling the ship. 'Impressive sight, isn't it?' came a cold voice. Pitch was standing by the staircase. CRACK! A dreamsand whip swept towards Pitch, who vanished and reappeared beside the wheel. Sandy snarled silently. 'What are you doing here Pitch?' North growled, brandishing his swords. 'I'm getting my revenge,' Pitch said smiling. Before anyone could react, Pitch shot forwards, grabbed Jack by the throat and knocked the staff out of his hand.

'JACK!' Tooth screamed, but Pitch had already dragged Jack to the edge of the Sandship and was holding him over the precipice. Ms Frizzle leapt into the air, going up far too high, staying up far too long, travelling far too far. With a slam, she brought her high-heeled shoe down with sickening crack onto Pitch's head who was knocked over backwards.

This meant that Pitch released Jack. He screamed as he began to fall. Ms Frizzle, balancing on her hands, brought her legs round in a fast motion, catching Jack and flinging him back towards the Guardians. She then did a triple backflip and landed back beside her great-grandfather. 'Where did you learn that?' North asked stunned. 'You'd be surprised what teachers do during the summer break,' she said smiling.

Pitch got back to his feet. 'Here,' Tooth said, throwing a penny over to him. 'What's this for?' he asked. Tooth pointed over his shoulder. One of his teeth had been knocked out. He snarled at them. Sandy leapt forwards with his whips at the ready.

With a roar, a tsunami of black sand rushed forwards, knocking Sandy backwards. The sand coalesced into... 'Impossible,' Ms Frizzle whispered. 'Look familiar,' Pitch said. He was smiling now. The massive black form... of a bus with glowing red headlights stood before them, revving aggressively.


	3. Chapter 3: Inside Bunny

Inside Bunny

_**Apologies for taking so long. My epilepsy has been interfering with my work. **_

* * *

'Took me quite a while to perfect this machine,' Pitch said, stroking the bonnet of the nightmare-bus. It revved like a cat purring. Jack looked at Ms Frizzle. She didn't look scared or angry. She looked remarkably calm. Jack felt a massive respect for her. 'Of all ya schemes mate,' Bunny said, 'This is your maddest yet'. Pitch laughed. 'Yes, I like it as well,' he said.

'What are you planning to do with a Nightmare-bus?' Tooth asked with an eyebrow raised. Pitch opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly, with a flash of yellow and an aggressive revving, the Bus shot forwards and slammed into the Nightmare-bus. There was a flurry of sparks as the two collided. Before Pitch reacted, the Guardians charged forwards. Tooth smashed into Pitch, catapulting both of them backwards.

Sandy shot behind Pitch and with a crack of his whips, sent Pitch flying around the Bridge. Bunny launched his own attack, but he wasn't quite as lucky. Pitch twisted in mid-air and brought his axe spinning onto Bunny's arm. Bunny yelled, but the cut wasn't deep. Pitch leapt off of the bridge into thin air. The Nightmare-bus dissolved into a black cloud, enveloped Pitch and then reformed. The N-Bus flew off into the sky.

The real bus produced a vacuum cleaner and sucked everyone back into the cabin. The bus transformed into an aeroplane and shot off through the clouds, but Pitch and the Nightmare-bus had vanished. 'We must get after them,' North said, standing at the dashboard. Jack opened his mouth to say something, when a pained moan echoed through the bus. Bunny was lying on a seat looking very green. The injury on his arm had turned black.

'He's been infected with something,' Tooth gasped. 'We must return to the Pole,' North said, barely concealing a hint of fear. 'Okay Bus, do your stuff!' Ms Frizzle slammed her foot on the accelerator and the Bus disappeared in a sonic boom.

* * *

Bunny lay on the bed, several drip tubes entering his arm. 'There is strong bacterial infection which has spread to throat,' North said checking a clipboard. 'Here Bunny, take this medicine,' Tooth said holding out a spoon of some purple liquid. Jack stared at it. 'How can anything that looks and smells like grape shoe polish help someone get well?' he asked as Bunny swallowed the medicine and shuddered.

'How does someone get sick anyway?' he continued. Ms Frizzle's eyes lit up and so did her earrings. 'What an excellent idea. TO THE BUS!' Ms Frizzle marched out of the Infirmary followed by Jack, North, Tooth and Sandy. 'HEY!' Bunny yelled after them, 'WHAT ABOUT ME?' Something hopped into his chest. It was Liz. There was an awkward silence. 'Hi, how ya doin'?' Bunny said. Liz gave him a look that said "Can't complain."

'Bunny, open your mouth!' a voice called. Bunny looked up. A small yellow speck was hovering in front of his eyes. It was the Bus. Bunny's jaw dropped. 'Thank you,' the voice said and the speck flew into Bunny's throat. It tickled horribly. **_COUGH! _**The powerful rush of air forced the Bus back out of Bunny's throat and it crashed into the pile of blankets at the foot of the bed.

Liz picked up the yellow speck. North's angry, but tiny voice echoed up. 'Bunny, did you have to cough?!' 'Sorry,' Bunny said blushing.

'Bunny's throat looked really swollen,' Jack said, 'It must make him really sensitive to internal sensations.' 'How are we supposed to get in if Bunny keeps coughing us up?' Tooth said thoughtfully. Jack thought and then said 'How did the infection get into Bunny's body?' Ms Frizzle turned around on her chair to answer. 'When Pitch cut Bunny's arm the infection would have gotten in through the breach in Bunny's skin.' 'If the infection got in that way, why don't we?' Jack said. 'Is not bad idea,' North said.

Ms Frizzle pressed a button and the Bus shrunk down even smaller size. Bunny pulled one of his bandages off of his arm.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! IF THE BUS CAN GET IN, SO CAN BACTERIA!

The bus flew into the cut and dived into the bloodstream. Jack couldn't see for all of the red liquid. The bus shrank smaller still.

Jack stared out of the window. Instead of a red liquid, there were now hundreds of red disc-like structures. 'What are those?' Jack asked pointing out of the window. 'Those are Erythrocytes,' Ms Frizzle said, 'Also known as Red Blood cells.' 'What about those jagged things?' Jack continued. 'Those are platelets, they heal cuts and abrasions,' Tooth said checking an encyclopedia.

After a few minutes the bus arrived in a throat capillary. All over the placed were white blobs. 'Let me guess; White Blood cells?' Jack said. 'Or Leukocytes, which ever you prefer yes,' Ms Frizzle said. Sandy pointed. One of the White Blood cells had squeezed out of the Blood vessel. The bus followed it through the Squamous epithelium cells that composed the vessel and entered the interstitial tissue fluid.

Ahead of them were White blood cells and... 'What the?' North said. Blobs that looked white blood cells but were black were in front of them. They were attacking the cell wall. 'Nightmare bacteria?' Tooth said staring, 'Now I've seen everything.'

'We've got to do something,' Jack cried as one of the bacteria caused a cell to wither and die. 'Back-up is already on the way,' Ms Frizzle said as a wash of purple liquid flowed through the tissue fluid. 'The medicine,' Jack said smiling. Ms Frizzle pressed a button on the dashboard and the bus turned into a white blood cell. Two large cannons appeared on the bonnet. 'Virus and Bacterial Disintegrator,' Jack read off of the signs on the cannons.

'Jack, use the cannon while I steer,' Ms Frizzle said as two large joysticks appeared on the dashboard. Jack grabbed the sticks, aimed and fired. The beams struck a nightmare-bacterium and disintegrated it. 'Now we're talking,' Jack laughed.

* * *

'What's that weird burning feeling in my throat?' Bunny asked out loud. Liz shrugged.

* * *

After half an hour all the bacteria were finally destroyed. 'Bunny's body is safe,' Tooth said in relief. No one noticed Sandy's panicked expression as he looked out of the back window. 'Time to leave,' North said, pulling a thermos flask of eggnog out of his coat pocket. CLANG! Everyone turned to face Sandy who had just hit a cymbal he had conjured out of sand. He pointed to an image of a white blood cell and then pointed out of the window.

White blood cells were converging on the bus. 'Is it just me or do they look rather aggressive?' Tooth said. 'Well, now that the infection is over, the white blood cells recognise us as foreign bodies,' Ms Frizzle said. 'But don't white blood cells destroy foreign bodies?' Jack said. His question was answered when the white blood cells attempted to swallow the bus. Tooth, North and Jack screamed. Sandy hid under a chair.

'To destroy us, Bunny's white blood cells'll have to catch us first,' Ms Frizzle said and she slammed her foot down on the accelerator. The Bus broke free of the White Blood cells and shot through Bunny's body. The white blood cells made pursuit. 'Hang a louie,' Jack yelled. 'To the Starboard,' North cut in. 'Port astern,' Tooth screamed. 'Left it is,' Ms Frizzle laughed.

* * *

'OUCH!' Bunny yelled. He grabbed his nose. 'What was that?'

* * *

The Bus was ploughing through some thick, greenish substance. 'Gross,' Jack said staring out of the window. 'What is that stuff?' 'I'll give you a clue,' Ms Frizzle said, 'We're in Bunny's nose.' 'Oh, double gross,' Jack groaned. 'How are we going to get out of here?' Tooth asked as the Bus got stuck in a thicket of mucus.

Ms Frizzle pressed a button on the dashboard and spoke into a microphone. 'Oh Liz, it's time to use the condiments.'

* * *

'What does she mean by condiments?' Bunny asked. 'What... argh!' he yelled as Liz threw a handful of pepper into his face. 'Ah-a-A-AH-CHOOOOO!' As Bunny sneezed a thin cloud of droplets shot forth from his nostrils. With a small flash, one of the droplets grew into the Bus. It landed on the end of Bunny's bed.

* * *

Within the hour, Bunny was back on his feet and smiling. Jack, North, Sandy and Tooth however weren't smiling, as they were all currently covered in rabbit bogies. Ms Frizzle had managed to escape clean and unscathed and was making them all hot cocoa with marshmallows.

'Thanks,' Jack said taking a cup of cocoa. Unfortunately a large drop of snot fell out of his hair and into the drink and Jack lost his appetite. 'Here, have mine,' Tooth said, passing the mug over, 'Too much sugar.' Ms Frizzle walked over with a plate of cookies. She had changed her dress, earrings and shoes.

If Jack had known about the connection between Ms Frizzles dresses and her field trips, he might have been more worried... but he didn't and wasn't.

* * *

**_What will be next? I'll leave the field trips up to you. List below._**

**_Space, Inside Jack, Ocean, Dinosaurs, Inside Earth, other._**

**_Voting lines close: May 1st._**

**_I don't think that Jack is stupid, just he didn't have much of a chance of education when he was Human, and since he became a Guardian he never fancied going to class._**


	4. Chapter 4: The Time of the Dinosaurs

Chapter 4: In the Time of the Dinosaurs

* * *

Jack sat on Jamie's bed while the latter was reading a book about dinosaurs. Jack was lying on his back, bored out of his mind. 'How long are you gonna be with that book?' Jack asked. 'Hang on Jack,' Jamie said. 'There are other ways to have fun other than snowball fights.' Jack stared incredulously. 'How is reading books fun?'

Jamie ignored him and turned the page. 'Wow,' he said, 'Look at this.' Reluctantly, Jack opened his eyes and looked at the page. 'Footprints,' he said, in fake-interest. 'They're called Trace fossils actually,' Jamie said, glaring at him.

Jack sighed... and suddenly snatched the book out of Jamie's hands. 'Hey!' Jamie said, but Jack just stared at the picture on the page. Trampled into the footprints... were traces of black sand.

* * *

'How can this be?' North said staring at the page of the book. 'Dunno,' Bunny shrugged. Tooth looked worried. Sandy was gulping down eggnog. Jack stood there, arms crossed, biting his lower-lip. Jamie stood next to him. Although he knew he should worried about Pitch, he couldn't resist glancing around the Workshop, taking in the sights and sounds and (in the case of the elves) smells.

Ms Frizzle entered at this point with Liz on her shoulder. 'Wazzup!' she said, beaming while Liz gave a "Hang loose" gesture. The sight of all of the worried expressions didn't have any effect on her whatsoever although Liz dropped the gesture nervously.

'Who's this?' Jamie asked Jack, not taking his eyes of Ms Frizzle's dress. It took a brief moment for Jack to register what Jamie had said as he too was transfixed by Ms Frizzle's choice of clothing. Today her dress was covered with dinosaurs. Not cartoon dinosaurs, but real dinosaurs in front of an araucaria forest and a volcano. Her earrings were bones and on her shoes were two mechanical alarm clocks.

Jack snapped back when he realised that Ms Frizzle was standing right in front of him. 'Valerie Frizzle at your service,' Ms Frizzle said shaking Jamie's hand. 'Um... hi. I'm Jamie Bennett.' 'We can get to introduction later,' North said. 'We must find out how Pitch managed to do this.' He tapped the picture. Ms Frizzle took a look. A smile crossed her face and her earrings flashed. 'TO THE BUS!'

'To the what?' Jamie said. 'You'll see,' Jack said smiling.

Jamie stared at the bright, yellow bus. He walked around the bonnet. He stared and jumped as the bus winked. The doors swung open and everyone stepped onto the bus... well mostly everyone; Bunny had to be dragged on board with Sandy's whips. 'Come on Jamie,' Jack called from the doors. Jamie jumped on board the bus and took a seat next to Jack.

Ms Frizzle pulled the red lever. The bus stretched, squashed and span. When it had finished the front had turned into a massive alarm clock. The left side had "Then" written on it while the right had "Was." At the top of the bus was written "Now" and a large red clock hand was pointing to it. Jamie gaped.

'As I always say "You can turn the clock back if you've got the right hands."' Ms Frizzle said smiling and began turning the wheel. The outside world blurred. The sun and moon became nothing more than two yellow and white streaks shooting through the heavens and strobing like demented disco lights. There was a rumbling beneath the bus as the continents began drifting. There were flashes of green as vegetation began advancing and retreating.

All of a sudden the dashboard sparked and the wheel locked. Ms Frizzle looked a little surprised. 'Ooh, that's not supposed to happen,' she said, unconcerned. Bunny shrieked. 'I KNEW IT!' He wailed, 'I KNEW IT! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!' 'Bunny, calm down!' Tooth said raising her hands to try and pacify him. It didn't work.

'WE'RE GONNA DIE! OUR REMAINS ARE GONNA BE SCATTERED TO THE CORNERS OF TIME AND SPACE! NO ONE WILL EVER FIND US!' 'Bunny, PLEASE!' North shouted. It still didn't work. 'I'M TOO IMPORTANT TO DIE! I'M THE EASTER BUNNY! I'M...' WHAM!

Jack's jaw dropped. Liz lowered her fist and shook it out. No one could say a word. Liz smiled. Tooth was so shocked that her eyes rolled up into her head and she passed out. Ms Frizzle grabbed the Hand-brake and pulled. The bus jerked and came to a relative stand-still.

Jack and Jamie pulled themselves up from the floor. 'Where are we?' Jack asked. A screen at the front of the bus flickered into life. "65 MYA: Cretaceous Period." Jamie peeked through the window and gasped.

They were on a beach. Tall, spiny trees stood not far from the bus and a small stream was flowing over a small cliff into the cyan sea below, around 25 meters away. Jamie and Jack slowly stepped down the bus to the doors and Ms Frizzle activated the door-release. With a pneumatic hiss, the doors opened. Jamie placed one foot onto the earth... then the other. He giggled.

'Why're you giggling Jamie?' Jack asked. Jamie turned to Jack with a massive, cheeky grin on his face. 'I think it's an adrenaline rush,' Jamie said, quaking with excitement. Sandy hopped out of the bus. He gave a facial expression like he was whistling and a dreamsand musical note floated from his lips. North stepped out of the bus along with a very dazed Tooth and Bunny who was rubbing his jaw.

'This is amazing,' Jamie said, 'Don't you think so Jack... Jack?' Jack was sweating like a Yeti in Phoenix. 'Why is it so hot?' Jack asked, wiping a glistening line of sweat off of his forehead. 'Well,' Ms Frizzle said, stepping off the bus, 'Temperatures in the Cretaceous period were 4 degrees higher than today.' Jack's jaw dropped in horror. He froze the area around his feet with his staff to cool down.

'You're not only one with temperature problems,' North said, tugging off his thick coat and throwing it back into the bus. 'So then, Dinosaurs,' North said clapping his hands. 'Many children like them, I get frequent orders for them at Christmas.' 'Like those by any chance,' Tooth said, pointing.

Standing behind them, at 9ft tall, was a dinosaur. It was thin and bipedal with a long snout. It gave a shrill squawk. Jamie reached over to pat it. SNAP. 'OW!' Jamie yelled. The dinosaur had nipped his fingers. He shook his hand. 'An Ornithomimus,' Ms Frizzle said. Jack turned to face her and once again, his jaw dropped.

Ms Frizzle had once again changed her dress; she was now wearing an Australian bush hat (complete with corks on strings), a safari jacket, thick walking boots, a back-pack with a compass attached and purple shorts decorated with bones.

Jamie stepped forward. It leant in towards him. Jamie reached out again. The Ornithomimus shrieked, a screeching shriek. Jamie tumbled back because of the loud blast. The Guardians clapped their hands over their ears. Only Ms Frizzle was to immune to noise. The Ornithomimus turned and ran into the trees. When it reached the treeline, suddenly hundreds of heads began poking up from the ferns around the tree trunks. The Ornithomimus's squawked and shrieked and suddenly began running together in a flock.

Jack gaped in awe at the sight... then he realised that all the Ornithomimus's were running straight towards them. Everyone else seemed to have realised this. Several yells echoed out and the entire group split up. Sandy and Tooth went towards the cliffs, North and Bunny headed for the Beach and Jamie and Jack sprinted for the forest. Ms Frizzle, Liz and the Bus stood at the centre of the charging herd of Ornithomimus. 'This is rather fun isn't it,' Ms Frizzle said from inside the bus. "Speak for yourself," Liz thought.

* * *

Sandy and Tooth hovered across the cliffs. They had run a long way to escape from the angry flock of Ornithomimus's. 'I have a question to put to you Sandy.' Sandy turned to face Tooth and created a question mark. 'Where are we now?' Sandy looked worried suddenly. They turned to look around. In their haste to escape, they had flown up to the top of one of the highest cliffs.

There was a screeching caw at this point. Looking up, there was a massive pterodactyl flying across the sky. 'Oh my,' Tooth gasped. She flew up into the sky and zoomed across the sky-scape with the flying reptile. Sandy rolled his eyes, but was smiling all the same.

Tooth was feeling exhilarated. She was doing loop-the-loops over the pterodactyl. They both swooped down to the ocean surface. The reptile dipped it's jaws into the water and caught a fish. They both returned to the air flying high. The thrashing fish knocked out a loose tooth. Tooth squealed in delight, flew down and caught it. She returned to Sandy, clutching her prize.

'A genuine dinosaur tooth,' Toothiana said, quivering with delight. 'Actually,' came a voice, 'The Pterosaur is not a dinosaur.' Tooth and Sandy turned Ms Frizzle was standing there with Liz on her shoulder. 'What do you mean?' Tooth asked. 'The Dinosaurs are defined chiefly by posture. The dinosaurs had stiff, straight legs, unlike modern lizards who have splayed legs and the bent legs of crocodiles. Besides, dinosaurs only lived on land.'

The Pterosaur flew down to the group. Ms Frizzle patted it on the beak. 'This beauty is a called a Quetzalcoatlus,' Ms Frizzle said smiling and feeding it another fish. As the Quetzalcoatlus took flight again, Ms Frizzle's smiled faded. She now looked slightly sad. 'Driven on to extinction,' she sighed. Sandy formed a question mark. 'This is a dying breed,' she said pointing. 'The skies of the future belong to birds that already flourish around us.' Tooth looked sad too. 'It is a terrible shame.'

* * *

Don't ask me how, but North and Bunny had somehow ended up on the open sea. North had supplied the inflatable raft. 'How do we get int'a these situations,' Bunny asked as they rocked on the swell. 'Don't ask me, I no know,' North responded. At that point, something massive rose out of the waves. 'What the f-' 'Bunny don't swear,' North said, but he was also hard pressed to hold his tongue. A massive turtle had risen out of the waves.

'Impressive,' Bunny said. 'Gives me idea for toys,' North said, hand on chin. The turtle swam away. 'Um North,' Bunny said. Something in his voice made North look around. 'What?' he asked. Bunny pointed. A six metre long shadow was passing underneath the boat. 'What hell is that?' North gasped. The shape broke the water surface.

It was a fish, the most gruesome fish Bunny had ever seen. It looked like a gigantic, fanged Tarpon, but it also had bulldog like features as well. Bunny and North ducked down and the fish narrowly missed their heads. It splashed back into the sea, soaking them both. Bunny felt shocked. He had never seen anything so ugly. North was breathing hard as well. The fish turned towards them, then suddenly whipped around and shot off in the opposite direction.

Something on the horizon caught Bunny's eyes. A whoosh of water was heading towards them. 'THE BUS!' Bunny yelled happily, waving. North was looking in the opposite direction. 'Um, Bunny...' North turned Bunny's head around. Flying towards them was the bus. 'But if that's the bus...' Bunny began 'Then what is that?' The whoosh of water was heading directly for them.

A head rose out of the water. It was long, snake-like and very, very big. In it's mouth were two lines of razor-sharp teeth. It's bulging, yellow eyes were fixed on Bunny. It opened it's mouth wide, wide enough to swallow him whole. Bunny was sure that the last things he would know would be the roar of this sea monster and the reeking stench of rotting flesh.

SPLASH! North pushed Bunny out of the boat and into the water. CRASH! The thing landed on the boat capsising it. Bunny stared horrified. He heard a splash. Turning, he found out what was worse than swimming with a 50ft carnivorous reptile; swimming with it's family. Two large creatures and several small ones were circling the boat.

With an upturned boat, a giant rabbit and a bulky human in the water, they were spoiled for choice. So far... they were choosing the boat. One of them smashed the boat with it's head. North and Bunny swam for the bus. Two massive hand snatched the two guardians out of the water. A third fished out the boat.

The bus turned and headed straight for shore. The reptiles were in fast persuit. Ms Frizzle pressed a button on the dashboard and the bus turned into a Pterosaur. They flew up into the sky. With an almighty crash, a massive reptile leapt out of the water, it's jaws opened wide. They slammed shut on empty air, just catching the edge of the bus.

'What were those things?' Bunny demanded. 'Tylosaurs,' Ms Frizzle said, grimly, 'Nasty creatures. They often travel in groups to protect their young. They'll attack and eat anything that moves.' 'And the fish?' North asked. 'Xiphactinus it's called,' Ms Frizzle continued, 'Very ugly, very vicious and usually don't chew when swallowing.' 'So, we're all back together,' Tooth said. 'No, we're still missing Jack and Jamie.'

* * *

Jack and Jamie weren't having it any calmer. They were both sprinting through the trees. A herd of angry Triceratops were charging after them. Jack was carrying Jamie on his shoulders as the latter was getting quickly exhausted. Jack ran on and finally they burst onto an ashy plain beneath a snow-topped volcano.

Jack leapt to the left. The Triceratops charged on past them. Jack and Jamie lay down in relief... but suddenly the ground rumbled. Out of the ash rose sand... black sand. Jack and Jamie began to move when they were bound by ropes of sand. Jamie was shaking with panic. Out of the ash rose Pitch. 'How nice to see you again,' Pitch said smiling. With an aggressive revving the N-bus drove up, it's red headlights flashing.

At the same time, the real bus flew down from the sky and transformed into it's regular shape. The Guardians and Ms Frizzle stepped off of the bus. 'Hello again Pitch,' Ms Frizzle said smiling gently. 'Valerie, what an unexpected displeasure,' Pitch said bowing silkily. 'The flattery is appreciated but I really have no time for this.' Liz nodded sternly. The two buses snorted at each other.

Bunny and Tooth released Jack and Jamie from their bonds. Ms Frizzle and Pitch began to circle one another. Pitch was looking murderous. Jack wondered why Ms Frizzle was still smiling. If Pitch had been looking like him like that, he would be on the ground with his head in his hands, quivering in terror. Ms Frizzle had guts, he'd give her that.

Pitch struck first. He spun his axe down. 'LOOK OUT!' Jack shouted, but too late...

Ms Frizzle had already acted. CLANG! The axe hit Ms Frizzle's forearm. "Clang" was a sound Jack didn't associate with flesh. WHACK! Ms Frizzle raised her boot and kicked hard Pitch in the solar plexus. He doubled up groaning. Ms Frizzle's coat had been torn, but her arm was completely unscathed. Pitch snarled.

The N-Bus shot forwards to run her down, but the real bus burst from behind Ms Frizzle and hit the N-Bus with a crash and a cloud of sparks. Pitch launched another attack. Ms Frizzle ducked, caught Pitch in his navel and catapulted him over her head. He flew several feet high and far. He hit the ground and spat out a small amount of blood. It appeared he had bitten his tongue.

Pitch got to his feet. He rubbed his jaw. 'Enough,' he snarled. 'I suppose you have all been wondering what I have been doing here.' 'Never crossed our minds,' Ms Frizzle said, but not spitefully. Jack had never had so much respect for someone, not even MiM. Pitch smiled. 'I needed space to rebuild my army,' he said, 'As well as design inspiration.' "Design inspiration" Jack thought worriedly.

Nightmare sand burst forth from the mouth of the volcano. It congealed into a hundred thousand nightmare Dromaeosaurs. If you don't know what they are, think human-sized Velociraptors. Liz ran into Jack's pocket. The two buses revved aggressively at each other. Ms Frizzle whistled. The Bus calmed down.

One of the nightmares charged. Crunch! RAAAAAAAAHHHH! A massive pair of jaws snapped shut on the sand creature. Jack and Jamie gasped. A Tyrannosaurus rex stood tall over them. It opened it's massive mouth (wide enough to swallow Jamie whole) and it roared, it roared so loudly that the horizon seemed to shake.

The nightmares charged. The T-rex turned, knocking down a whole battalion of fearlings with a sweep of it's tail. It roared and swung it's head again. More nightmares were smashed to oblivion. Ms Frizzle leapt into the air and brought her hand down with a karate-chop so powerful that a slight dent appeared in Pitch's head. At the same time, a resounding boom echoed across the world.

A bright light appeared in the sky. All eyes turned upwards. The light was streaking across the sky. Tiny specks of light were breaking off from it. Jamie looked horrified. 'Jamie what's wrong?' Jack yelled above the noise. The light disappeared below the horizon. Suddenly a flash brighter than the sun bleached out the entire world. Jack slammed his eyes shut, buried his head in his hands and placed his head on the ground, eyes down. Even then, the light shone straight through his fingers.

The light faded at last. Blinking to retrieve his vision, Jack looked up. Everyone else had looked away to save their vision as well so Jack didn't have a clue what had happened. Jamie however did judging by his expression. Jack opened his mouth to ask what had happened when...

BOOOOOOOMMMM!

Jack was blasted off his feet and was smashed into a tree. Looking up, Jack could see a massive mushroom cloud rising from beyond the horizon. Jamie sprinted over to Jack and hugged his waist. 'J-J-Jack...' Jamie stuttered, 'Don't you know what happened to the dinosaurs?' 'What happened?' Jack asked hesitantly. 'A meteorite crashed into the Earth and wiped them all out.'

Pitch smiled like a particularly evil thought had just occurred to him. A blast of nightmare sand shot forth from his finger-tips and hit the bus. It made a noise like it had shouted in pain. The N-Bus enveloped Pitch in it's black embrace and vanished.

'HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET BACK?!' Tooth yelled in panic. 'I believe Bunny has the answer,' Ms Frizzle said. 'What do you mean?' Jamie asked. 'Bunny used to be able to travel in time,' North said suddenly snapping his fingers. Bunny bit his furry lip. 'I haven't...' he hesitated, 'I haven't done that for years mate,' he finished. 'If you don't do this now, you won't live to see another,' Jack said.

Bunny sighed. He clapped his hands together. When he pulled them apart, a massive sceptre pulled free from his palms. The shockwave was approaching. A green egg was set in to the top of the sceptre. Bunny twirled the staff through the air and slammed it into the ground. The shockwave arrived. The world bleached with a scream of sound.

* * *

Jack opened his eyes. They were all standing beside the lake in present day Burgess. Jack collapsed onto his back. 'I was sure I was going to die.' There was silence for a minute. 'I am never stepping foot in that bus again,' Jack lied.

Ms Frizzle smiled. Her earrings flashed.

* * *

_Next time: Inside Jack_


End file.
